Virat Kohli, India retain top spot in ICC rankings

Having whitewashed Windies in a two-Test series, India is firmly perched atop the table for Test teams. It is 10 points ahead of second-placed South Africa.

Clinical: India inflicted heavy defeats in Windies in the two-Test series.

India captain Virat Kohli retains the top spot in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen, in the latest update published on Thursday.

Kohli, with 935 points, is 25 clear of Steve Smith (910 points), who is in the middle of a ban imposed by Cricket Australia. Cheteshwar Pujara is sixth, with 765 points.

Having asserted its supremacy with a 2-0 whitewash of Windies in the Test series at home last month, Kohli’s team was firmly perched atop the table for Test teams, too. India now has 116 points in its kitty, 10 more than second-placed South Africa.

Packed schedule

Shuffles are possible in the table in the 2018-19 season. In a packed schedule for Test cricket, Bangladesh plays host to Zimbabwe and the Windies in a two-Test series each, England travels to Sri Lanka for a three-Test series, while the United Arab Emirates will host a three-Test series between Pakistan and New Zealand.

Read - Tendulkar: 'We have a huge opportunity in Australia'

Bangladesh can move ahead of the Windies and occupy the eighth place, but to make that happen, it will have to win all the four Tests. England can rise to second, but will have to win the series.

Sri Lanka can move ahead of fifth-placed Australia, but will have to win all the three Tests; New Zealand will rise to second irrespective of how the Sri Lanka-England series ends if it sweeps the three-Test series against Pakistan; and Pakistan can move ahead of Australia if it wins 3-0.